Gene DiNovi

'''Eugene Salvatore''' "'''Gene'''" '''DiNovi''' (born May 26, 1928) is an American jazz pianist.

==Biography== DiNovi was born in New York City. He worked with Joe Marsala and Chuck Wayne while a teenager. He was very active live and on record in the late 1940s, working with Buddy DeFranco, Benny Goodman, Chubby Jackson, Brew Moore, Boyd Raeburn, Buddy Rich, Artie Shaw, Lester Young. He worked extensively as an accompanist for vocalists, starting with Peggy Lee in 1949–1950; he also played behind Tony Bennett and Anita O'Day. He recorded with Lena Horne multiple times in the late 1950s and early 1960s and also accompanied her on tours of Europe. During this time, he also worked with his own small groups; his sidemen included Danny Bank, Johnny Carisi, Bill Crow, Tony Fruscella, and Dave Schildkraut. He began working more as a studio musician and film score composer in the 1960s. Toward the end of the decade he played with Carmen McRae, then moved to Canada to take a position as a house pianist with the CBC in Toronto. In the 1980s he worked with Ruby Braff and toured and recorded in Japan, and continued to be active as a performer into the 1990s, working with James Campbell, Don Thompson, Memo Acevedo, Dave Young, and Terry Clarke.<ref>"Gene DiNovi". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, ed. Barry Kernfeld.</ref>

DiNovi's daughter is the film producer Denise Di Novi.<ref>{{cite news|last= Schneller|first=Johanna|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/the-player/article989194/|title=The Player|work=The Globe & Mail|date=October 25, 2005|access-date=June 13, 2021}}</ref>

==Discography== * 1990 ''Precious Moment'' (Pony Canyon) * 1992 ''Remembrance'' (Marshmallow) * 1992 ''How Beautiful Is Night'' (Marshmallow) * 1994 ''Renaissance of a Jazz Master'' (Candid) * 1996 ''Live at the Montreal Bistro'' (Candid) * 1997 ''At the Stables'' (Hep) * 1999 ''Plays the Music of Benny Carter'' (Hep) * 2001 ''So in Love'' (Pony Canyon) * 2003 ''Golden Earrings'' (Pony Canyon) * 2003 ''Plays Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn Live'' (Baldwin Street Music) * 2007 ''Flower of the Night'' (Marshmallow) * 2008 ''The Three Optimists at the Old Mill'' (Sackville)

Source:<ref name="AM discog">{{cite web |title=Gene DiNovi {{!}} Album Discography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gene-dinovi-mn0000802856/discography |website=AllMusic |accessdate=19 February 2019 |language=en-us}}</ref>

===As sideman=== * 1955 ''Cloud 7'', Tony Bennett (Columbia) * 1957 ''Stormy Weather'' Lena Horne (RCA Victor) * 1958 ''Sea Shells'', Peggy Lee (Decca) * 1972 ''Bebop Spoke Here'', Benny Goodman and Charlie Barnet (Capitol) * 1975 ''The Aladdin Sessions'', Lester Young (Blue Note) * 1984 ''Over the Rainbow'', Aura Urziceanu (Electrecord) * 1997 ''Songbook'', Benny Carter (MusicMasters) * 1999 ''The Canadian Sessions'', Ruby Braff (Sackville)

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:DiNovi, Gene}} Category:1928 births Category:Living people Category:American jazz pianists Category:American male jazz pianists Category:Jazz musicians from New York City Category:American emigrants to Canada Category:20th-century American pianists Category:21st-century American pianists Category:20th-century American male pianists Category:21st-century American male pianists